30 years on and still no justice for the death of Cherry Groce

This year marked the 4th anniversary of the death of our mother, Dorothy "Cherry" Groce, on 24 April 2011. It also marks the 30th anniversary of the armed raid into our home by Met police officers on 28 September 1985 when she was shot by them, resulting in her paralysis and eventual death.

At her inquest last year, a jury found multiple and serious failings on the part of the Metropolitan Police in relation to the raid, and in the wake of their verdict the Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe apologised publicly and in person to us for those failures. He apologised for the “years of suffering” that had been caused to us as a result of those failures, and he undertook to do his best to make amends to us in order to properly acknowledge and account for the extent of our suffering.

In the months that followed, Sir Bernard repeatedly assured us of his commitment to do so, directly in person and through his lawyers. In accordance with his obligations, he and his lawyers confirmed their willingness to sit down and discuss with us how they proposed to resolve the matter. HOWEVER at the end of March this year, he instructed his lawyers to tell us that he was no longer willing to engage with us in any further discussion, and he has declined to provide any meaningful explanation for this change of heart and mind on his part.

In these circumstances, we call on Sir Bernard to find the courage to meet us again, to sit down with us face to face, so that we can discuss with him what he can and should do to finally acknowledge and account for the suffering caused to us by his officers. We call upon him to DO THE RIGHT THING.

For our part, we have made it clear to him that we remain open and committed to resolving this matter through discussion if at all possible, but his current stance has left us with no option but to pursue this matter through the courts.

As her children – aged 8, 11, 13, 18 and 20 at the time – we lived through the profound trauma of the raid and the ensuing torture over the decades while we tried to look after our mother until her death: this trauma will never leave us and all we want is closure.

We ask you to support our call – please sign this petition: your voice matters to us. It was after a petition like this – and the threat of legal action – that the Government reversed its decision to deny us legal aid for representation at our mother’s inquest. If enough people sign this petition, Sir Bernard will not be able to ignore it.

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Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe: 30 years on and still no justice for the death of Cherry Groce